Founded in 1976, the Free Enterprise Institute’s mission is to preserve a free and virtuous American Republic. President George Washington said: “The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

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The Free Enterprise Institute, a non-profit educational institution founded in 1976, offers an understanding of the principles and history that have made America great since its founding. With the Founding Fathers, we know that our citizens need to be continually educated in the twin pillars of liberty and responsibility so that we may preserve our freedoms.

We teach these principles through our seminars and conferences—to students, to teachers, and community leaders. As Thomas Jefferson declared: “I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education.”

Our programs and publications offer a transforming encounter with the history and principles of the American Founding including: constitutionally limited government, free enterprise and the rule of law. Through The Imaginative Conservative our online journal, we present millions of readers across the world with a thoughtful discussion of politics, economics, history, and culture, which enables them to contemplate the best of our American heritage and the Western tradition.